Chapter 16 — Three Years in Secret

She hugged her chest and continued to tell Ha Quan Thanh: "Whoever invited someone to paint a portrait of Diep Van That. You are the person who understands her best, go back and see if the That That they painted is the That That in your heart?" These words finally shook Ha Quan Thanh. But he thought, if the painting really looked like Diep Van That, maybe it couldn't be kept. Anyway, Diep Van That always thinks of ways to leave him. That painting will be taken away by her sooner or later. Ha Quan Thanh's eyes were slightly red, his tears reflecting the broken light under the moon. He pursed his lips and said with difficulty: "Everyone go home first. I won't commit suicide." After all, while Ninh Mong was still alive, he would not arbitrarily end his life like that. It's just a pity that Ninh Mong couldn't say anything valuable. Before that, he heard the guard say that Ninh Mong had taken Diep Van That out of the secret room, but he didn't know where she had taken Diep Van That. I also don't know what that woman ultimately said to Diep Van That. That's why he thought of this way, wanting to force Ninh Mong to say what he had done, but it seemed like he was pretending too much. Scared Ninh Mong to the point that he was mentally unstable. The Queen Mother for a moment didn't understand what Ha Quan Thanh was thinking, but she calmly and clearly said those words. "I want... to be alone and quiet for a while." When Diep Van That was still alive, she used to sit here with him, raising her head to look at the stars and the moon. "Above her head is a sky full of stars, in her heart there is you and me. Perhaps this is the happiest thing." Ha Quan Thanh suddenly heard Diep Van That speaking next to him. He immediately turned and saw her sitting next to him. For some reason, tears welled up in his eyes. He spoke confusedly: "You... That That, you're back, are you back?" Diep Van That next to him smiled, not answering his question. When Ha Quan Thanh reached out to touch her cheek, she disappeared on the spot. Ha Quan Thanh pounced into space. But it seemed he had already guessed it, so he just lowered his eyes and said no more. He's so tired. In a place without Diep Van That, every day he lives extremely tired. Both body and spirit were tormented as if being punished by hanging. Ha Quan Thanh knew that sooner or later there would come a day when he couldn't stand this endless pain. After going crazy or getting sick, Ha Quan Thanh prepared for himself a final path. It's better to take a knife and slit your wrists, just die and that's it. He was not a person who sought life and death, but under endless torment, death instead became liberation. But now is not the time yet. Finally, the Queen Mother led everyone to sit a hundred steps away from Ha Quan Thanh, not daring to come closer. Ha Quan Thanh also always sat there motionless. After a long time, he slowly stood up and said he wanted to return but did not return to the palace. He said he wasn't sick, it was all just pretending. The Queen Mother was bewildered when she heard it, but still followed Ha Quan Thanh's wishes and took him back to the palace. After returning, the first place Ha Quan Thanh went to was where Diep Van That used to live. This place holds all the memories between him and Diep Van That. He lay on the bed, smelling her last remaining breath, not sleeping all night. The next morning, Ninh Mong was captured and returned. Guards escorted Ninh Mong into the palace, she kept struggling. When he saw Ha Quan Thanh, even though he looked much better than a few days ago, Ninh Mong was still scared from the bottom of his heart. She was afraid that the purpose of Ha Quan Thanh forcing her to return was to kill her and bury her with Diep Van That. Ninh Mong immediately begged: "Your Majesty, I beg you to forgive me. I really don't want to die, and Diep Van That's death cannot be completely blamed on me." Ha Quan Thanh understands

very clear what she meant, basically he was also responsible. "Yes, I know I'm also responsible. So now I'm going to kill you and commit suicide, is that okay?" When he said that, he was extremely calm, terrifyingly calm. At this time, Ninh Mong also realized that Ha Quan Thanh in front of him was a completely awake Ha Quan Thanh. But people are usually the scariest when they are awake. "Ha Quan Thanh, what do you want!" Ninh Mong looked at the person in front of him in horror and questioned loudly. Unexpectedly, Ha Quan Thanh did not speak at all, like a ruler, contemptuously looking from above at an ant that could arbitrarily trample on death. Ninh Mong panicked again: "It's obvious that you were the one who sought me out as a substitute for Diep Van That. Now that Diep Van That is dead, you blame this on me. Knowing... knowing that I would not have agreed to the request of a crazy person like you!" Ha Quan Thanh's face froze for a moment, he just calmly said: "If time could go back, I wouldn't look for you anymore." He regrets, completely regrets. Now he understands that no matter what purpose Diep Van That initially approached him for, during the process of living together, Ha Quan Thanh felt love and experienced the happiest time of his life. If only he had thought clearly sooner, if only he had seen through everything sooner.